Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar.

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Last Time on Dawning of Darkness...

Ekna reveals a shocking revelation that may destroy Aang's ability to control the elements.
Aang and Toph argue once more over Aang's revival being kept a secret.
Aang is presented with a horrifying dream he believes may be a vision.
Katara is packing to head to the Fire Nation and North Pole, leaving Ba Sing Se and its memories behind.
Yuan destroys the statue created for Aang in his honor.
Yuan sets Team Avatar's home ablaze so that they have nothing to return to.
Team Avatar arrives at the burning home and Katara discovers that Yuan is somehow alive.

And Now...
Chapter 36:
Strike of the Phoenix

As Yuan revealed his dark and twisted smile, Katara couldn't believe he was standing there. One of her worst nightmares had come true. She looked back on the night Jet had revealed to her that a firebender was alive and she had feared it would be Yuan. But it hadn't made any sense! Zuko had uncovered Yuan's body from the debris and it was even stated in the newspaper that Yuan, the Firebird, had been killed by! Katara couldn't make any sense of this, but, frankly, she didn't want to. The less sense it made meant a higher chance of this all being a nightmare that she would soon wake up from. The waterbender hoped for this. All she could do was hope, nothing more.

"Who are you?" Hakoda demanded sternly, "Did you set this house on fire?" demanded the chief.

Yuan turned his body to them and pointed towards them, "Yes, I did set your home on fire," he said before raising a finger towards Katara, "As for whom I am; why don't you ask her?"

Everyone turned their heads to Katara with questionable glances. Katara glanced at them before looking to the ground, "His name is Yuan. He's the one who attacked me," she revealed to the group.

They all turned back to Yuan, "How are you alive?" Sokka demanded curiously.

Yuan closed his eyes briefly, "Have you ever heard of a Phoenix? They rise from their own ashes. I am a Phoenix; I rise from my own ashes," he explained as if teaching a class.

"Oh, yeah?" Sokka questioned, "Well, then, I guess you won't mind when we beat you!" he exclaimed.

The firebender smiled, "Give it your best shot," he said, expectantly.

Sokka glared at the man before charging forward with his sword wielded in his hand. He extended the sword out in front of him in attempt to cut the man's waist. Just at the last second, Yuan dashed to the left and out of the path of the blade. As Sokka passed the firebender, the back of his shirt collar was grasped and he was twirled around and flung away back towards the ground. His body slammed against the ground with a loud audible grunt.

All their eyes pointed towards Sokka with surprised looks, then looked up to the firebender. Yuan was stronger than he looked. It had been like he made no effort when he flung the warrior. He glared at them with half-squinting eyes, as if challenging them.

Hakoda was tempted to attack Yuan, but he knew he would be unable to thanks to the beat down he had received months ago. The chief knew his attempt would only put his friends in even more harm. But he couldn't leave them. What kind of father would he be to leave his children to fight a dangerous man?

Yuan's smirk vanished and now he was serious. He cracked his knuckles, "My turn."

The gang didn't give him time to strike. When Sokka had gotten back on his feet and retrieved his sword, they charged towards Yuan. He smiled, creating flaming daggers in his knuckles before charging towards them as well.

Zuko had taken the lead with balls of fire held in his palms. He held back a hand as he reached Yuan he thrust it forward. Yuan's speed was remarkably fast and he had quickly leaned to the side and as Zuko passed him he stern kicked him in the back while, at the same time, blasted currents of fire towards the others.

Katara had pulled water from the air and had used it to put out the fires and Mai took the lead, launching six individual arrows from up her sleeve. Yuan leaped to the side with jets of flame and twirled his arms, creating two spiraling circles of flame that he sent towards her. Mai simply jumped through one of them and was nearing the firebender when one of the firebender's daggers was shot towards her. The flame shot her in the arm and she fell to the ground, her arm burning with pain as she breathed through her teeth.

Katara turned to her friend then glared at Yuan. The look in both of their eyes was suspenseful. The many gallons of water Katara had retrieved turned to whips. She slashed them at Yuan, who made a wall of flame that blocked the slash.

Yuan lowered the wall of fire and transformed it into a sphere and launched it at her. The waterbender released her whips and was pulling water out of the air when Zuko dashed in front of the flame, absorbing it into one palm and blasting it out the other. This was a technique he had invented after discovering that firebenders could redirect heat and fire through their bodies just like he could do with lightning.

Yuan was shocked to see this technique and was put off guard when the fire blew up in his face. He flew backwards but reacted quickly. His feet were flying in the air until he shifted his weight backwards, flipping him over and connecting his feet with the ground once more and slid against ground with his hand gripping the dirt. He looked up at them with a smile. He was already forming a flame in his palm when something struck the back of his head, dazing him.

Sokka jumped up into air and caught his boomerang with a cheerful smile, "Boomerang also hits his target!" he cried out.

Yuan stood up, growling angrily as he turned to Sokka. Sokka's cheerful face soon vanished when a wave of fire traveled towards him. Sokka quickly leaped out of the fire's path. The warrior smiled, but not of success. He was smiling at who was now behind Yuan.

Suki had her middle knuckles sticking out when she jabbed the firebender's back, hitting a certain number of pressure points that disabled Yuan's legs. He began stumbling forward before the former Kyoshi Warrior sternly kicked him in the back. The man slightly lunged forward before smacking into the ground with a thud and audible grunt.

Hakoda was helping Mai up from the ground. She hadn't been injured too badly, but she barely had movement of her right arm. Normally, a fire dagger wouldn't cause such injury, but because of Yuan's enhanced strength it had injured her arm greatly. Zuko had requested that Hakoda get her to safety for the time being and the chief agreed, knowing that even though he couldn't fight with them, he could still help keep them same in some ways. The chief took Mai to his room at an inn just around the corner from the gang's now-burning home.

No had had even noticed it when the sun had finally set and a strong storm was passing over them. Frankly, they weren't worried about the weather. They were more worried about Yuan than anything else.

Lightning had ripped through the sky when Yuan had finally fallen. Now he lay on the ground, disabled, while the rain poured down on him.

Sokka cheered out loudly, "So much for the Phoenix!" he cried out, "You'd think he'd know that the first Phoenix got his butt whooped as well," Sokka stated, referring to Ozai when he had attempted at destroying the Earth Kingdom.

As the gang was nearing Yuan, ready to take him into custody, they began to notice something very strange happening. His hair was receding, his skin was blushing to a ghoulish white, his clothes began turning into a ripped black cloak. As the gang noticed this they began to take cautious steps away. What was going on? Was he transforming into something? Whatever was happening was definitely a cruel and scary sight.

Yuan had known his human form was useless to him at the moment. That was why he was transforming into his Manarki form. Without blood veins to disable his legs, he would have complete control over his body and the girl who had chi blocked him would be unable to do it again.

His nails turned to sharp claws and his eyes flushed from amber to a dark purple. A dark smile ran across his face when, almost instantly, rose back to his feet with a loud, ear-shattering screech. Strangely enough, at the exact moment his screech began a bolt of lightning shot through the sky in addition to a loud, ground-ripping blast of thunder.

The gang covered their ears against the high-pitched screech. Katara couldn't help but familiarize the screech with something she had seen long ago. She tried to think but the screech was unbearable. But then it hit her. Her dreams! She had heard the deafening screech in almost every dream she had about those eye-glowing creatures. The waterbender couldn't believe it. Was Yuan one of those creatures? Figments of her imagination come alive?

Finally, Yuan's screech had ceased and he charged towards them with eyes of eagerness that were ready to wreak their revenge.

The gang's ears rang intensely and none of them had seen it coming when Yuan had finally reached them, throwing kicks and punches that separated them all. They landed in all directions, but Yuan was only interested in one of them: Katara. She sat dazed against a wall, trying to regain balance of her eyes that made it seem there were six replicas of everything.

Yuan grasped her collar and picked her up from the ground so easily it was as if she was the weight of a doll. He smashed her head against the wall hard, causing her let out a soft screech of pain before he did it again, this time harder.

"Leave her alone!" A voice shouted out in a demanding and angry tone. Yuan turned his head to see Sokka charging towards him with sword in hand. The creature/firebender held up a hand that produced a ball of violet energy and blasted it at Sokka just before the warrior reached him. He was hurled into the wall of their neighbor's home, who just so happened to be out of town. Sokka now laid on the ground, his back aching with pain while he was forced to watch Yuan torture his sister.

To Yuan's disappointment, Suki and Zuko had risen back to their feet and were cautiously moving towards him. Yuan gripped Katara's collar firmly. He turned them both around, twirling Katara so that now her back was against him and his arm wrapped around her arms. He brought up a single claw and gently pressed it against her neck, which she tried to turn away from before he pressed it against her more. She stopped her resisting as she knew it would only result in injury.

When the two saw Katara in the position she was now in, they stopped in place with worried looks.

Yuan looked Zuko and Suki in the eyes with an evil smile, "If you make one more move, I will slit her throat. Do you understand?"

"Let her go!" Zuko ordered.

"No," the creature said, "you are going to do as I say, or she will die... right here and now," he threatened. The tone of his voice was evidence enough that he wasn't bluffing.

Suki was about to charge at Yuan when Zuko stopped her, "We can't risk her safety," he told her, not liking the idea either but also tempted to do the same as she had attempted.

Yuan smiled in delight, "Good..." he said softly, slowly taking the claw away from Katara's throat. When the claw was nowhere near her throat, Zuko charged forward, producing a large flame in his palm. That was exactly what Yuan wanted.

The creature's hand began to glow a violet purple as the cosmic energy was building up its strength. Right when Zuko wasn't even three feet away, Yuan waved his hand across the air. The result was a floating current of energy. The creature then thrust his hand forward, launching the energy. Zuko was shocked to see what Yuan had created and the energy passed through him, and, like Sokka, was hurled away from the waterbender and smacked into the ground just in front of the still burning home. Suki also received a taste of the energy as well and rolled across the ground, weak and vulnerable.

The creature smiled in success before turning back towards the wall, bringing Katara with him, and slamming her head against the wall once more. "This could have all been prevented, Katara. All you had to do was accept my love and neither you nor your family would be in this situation."

Katara's hands were gripping the arm that kept her pinned against the wall, "You had no love for me and neither did I for you! You used me. Used me when you knew I was vulnerable and lost," she spat angrily.

"Vulnerable? Lost?" Yuan laughed. "How could you have ever felt anything towards that little kid?"

Katara eyed him angrily with those icy blue eyes she barely showed. But something was different this time. Droplets of water broke through the barriers of her eyes, spilling down her cheek; "Because he saved me from myself…" she answered simply, a sense of sadness and anger in her voice.

The creature furrowed his eyebrow, "Saved you from yourself?" he questioned. He chuckled, "Well, he isn't here to save you this time, and neither is that masked coward."

"I beg to differ," A voice suddenly said.

Jet had been hiding atop the building for a while, just waiting for his moment to strike. When he spoke out, Yuan only had enough time to look up before Jet's swords hooked under Yuan's underarms. Jet had flipped into the air and as he came back to the ground, Yuan was slammed to the ground and his face showed the pain when he landed on his back. Jet landing a foot away from Yuan, leaning down with his foot stretched out with one of his swords doing the same as he held back a foot and sword.

"Down you go," said the Freedom Fighter.

Yuan growled angrily as he stood back up. He glared at the man angrily. He remembered the man's face instantly and he growled softly. "This time... you're going to be the one to die," he said menacingly.

Jet smirked, "Sorry, but someone already beat you to it."

Yuan ignored this and extended his claws and raced at Jet. The Freedom Fighter used one of his swords to wrap around Yuan's arms and he kicked the creature strongly in the gut. He stumbled back and attacked again. But, unlike normally, he didn't attempt to attack his body. He went for the swords. They were Jet's only defense and offense, and Yuan had finally realized that.

He grabbed one of Jet's hook swords, moving it out of the way as Yuan threw a punch at Jet's face. There was a smack and the man stumbled back, but shook it off. Jet attacked again, this time wrapping both swords around Yuan's legs and practically flipping over the creature to send him flying down the street.

A tall, lean boy with black hair under a coolie hat and blue clothes with a dark red cloth wrapped around his collar crouched on the top of a home with a bow and arrow drawn. He was aiming for a specific target what was about a half-mile away. His eyes were in perfect level of the arrow and all he needed was the right moment.

Its target – a black creature of some sorts – was thrown across a street and had landed on its side. After a few moments, it returned to its feet.

The man released the arrow and it ripped through the air. The man simply watched the arrow as it headed for its target. He didn't say a word and his face was blank. There was no emotion in his face. He just watched the arrow make its way to the target.

Yuan had risen to his feet and was now even angrier than before. "I am not going to let you beat me again!" he exclaimed angrily.

Jet simply stayed where he was, a soft grin on his face. He wasn't even in a stance anymore.

Yuan eyed the Freedom Fighter, curious as to what he was smiling about. Just moments later, an arrow shot through Yuan's shoulder. He cried out in pain as he grasped the arrow. His arm was flooding with unbearable pain.

Jet turned his head and looked into the distance at a figure crouching on the building, "Nice shot, Longshot," he complimented before turning back to Yuan and charging towards him.

Yuan was still trying to pry the arrow out of his shoulder when Jet kicked him hard in the chest. An audible grunt escaped him as he fell to the ground. The Freedom Fighter approached Yuan again and as he stood over the creature, he smirked as a bolt of lightning shot through the sky.

"You shouldn't have come back," Jet told the creature.

Yuan spat into the ground, "I can come and go as I please. I cannot be killed! I will not be killed!" he shouted angrily before breathing through his teeth. He anger had provoked his wound and it felt like salt was being poured onto it.

Jet snorted, "Go ahead and keep telling yourself that. Bottom line is, you lost," he said before turning away from the creature. He approached Katara, who was trying to help her brother up, but continued to struggle in strain.

What has he been eating! Katara thought, trying to throw his stiff arms over his shoulders, but his weight causing her to bend her back.

Jet ran over and helped her, "You need to get them out of here. Me, Smellerbee and Longshot can handle it," he told her sternly.

The waterbender stopped her struggling and turned to Jet with questioning eyes, "Smellerbee... Longshot...?"

Jet nodded, "We don't have time to talk about it, just get them out of here!"

"Okay," Katara agreed, "but I'm going to come back and help you."

"No!" Jet retorted quickly, "It is too dangerous," he said in a protective tone.

Katara scowled at him, "Too dangerous? Jet, I was there when Aang died. If you don't think that fight was dangerous..." she stopped, knowing she had made her point.

Jet sighed in defeat, "Fine..."

Longshot armed another arrow and pulled it back, aiming for Yuan's leg to keep his restrained to the ground. He made sure his shot was clear, then fired the bow. Before the arrow had even hit its target, Longshot armed another arrow and fired it at Yuan's other leg. Immediately after that arrow, he armed another. But instead of aiming for the legs, he changed the direction of the arrow Yuan's left arm. He pulled back the arrow, then released it. Like the others, it zipped through the air and hit its target. Longshot made sure to keep his aim steady as Yuan was already beginning to struggled getting up. He was jerking left and right, trying to pull the arrows out of his body.

Longshot steadied his aim, and as quick as the flash of lightning that was ripping the sky, he released the arrow.

The archer pulled another arrow from his holder and armed it, ready to take out the creature with an arrow to the head. As he steadied his aim and pulled the arrow back, a hand rested upon his shoulder.

The archer's aim retreated and he turned to Smellerbee. "Let Jet handle it. We've done our job," she said softly with a soft smile.

Longshot nodded understandingly and he stood up, gently removing the arrow from the bow and putting back in the pouch and putting the bow in a slip on his back as he stood and gazed down at his target.

Yuan was struggling to get up, trying effortlessly to ignore the arrow in his shoulder. When he had finally pulled the arrow out of his shoulder, it took a few minutes before he was finally able to get up. His eyes flushed with anger and rage when he finally was lifting himself from the ground. But just as he was finally getting back to his feet, an arrow cut clean through his leg and pinned it to the ground. He cried out in pain and rage.

He gripped the arrow and was about to pulled it out when another arrow pinned his free leg to the ground. Another cry of pain and he gritted his teeth. Both arms gripped the arrows and pulled with all the strength he had. Almost as if he was psychic, he knew another arrow was coming. Only seconds after he gripped the arrows, another arrow slid right through his arm, pinning him to the ground. This time he shouted in anger rather than pain. He hadn't even attempted to pull the arrow out. He already knew another was coming. He looked in the direction of the other arrows and smiled as he noticed the oncoming arrow. At lightning speed, he grasped the oncoming arrow and twirled it around. He threw it back in the direction it had come from.

Longshot and Smellerbee were atop the building, watching their target struggling to pull the arrows out. The two couldn't help but smile. They didn't even know who their target was, or, moreover, what it was. All they knew was that Jet had asked them to stay low and attack when necessary.

Smellerbee was watching the sky when she saw the arrow coming right back at them. But, more specifically, coming right back to Longshot. He clearly didn't see the arrow as he was just looking into the sky as the rain poured down from the sky. She quickly reacted, tackling him to the ground as the arrow passed. "Look out!" she had shouted.

The two grunted as they hit the ground, sliding against the slippery-wet roof.

Smellerbee hadn't even seen the arrow pass them. She had to admit, the fall had made her pretty weak. She didn't know why. Her left arm seemed to be numb and she hadn't even felt the fall. She was beginning to wonder where the arrow had gone when Longshot began staring at her arm with a worried look on his face.

"What?" she questioned before feeling something in her shoulder. She turned to it, noticing the arrow that had been lodged in her shoulder, "Ah, crap..." she said softly and a bit weakly.

Longshot gently grasped the arrow and looked in her eyes. "I'm fine..." she answered. His eyes and face signaled what he was asking and she knew exactly.

He shook his head in disagreement and stood up, picking her up bridal style before charging and leaping off the roof to another roof. Now the pain of the arrow was beginning to take its affect and almost every time her arm moved she would grit her teeth.

Yuan knew the arrow had hit its target. He smiled wickedly as his body began to glow violet. He grabbed the arrow in his shoulder and pulled it out effortlessly. He pulled out the others and shook off the pain. The glow had ceased and he stood up. He watched as Jet and Katara were pulling Suki's unconscious body to safety. His smile grew and he brought up a hand that produced a ball of his violet energy.

"Goodbye, Masked Man..." he sneered softly just before the energy blasted out of his palm. A surge of anxiety traveled throughout him as he awaited the destruction of the man that had killed him. Jet was caught off guard and the energy made its way into his body. His body jerked left and right several times before something else seemed to blow up in front of him. He was lunged backwards to his back and even from his place in the street he could hear the man groan and moan in pain.

Katara jerked her head at Yuan with angry eyes, "Leave them alone!" she ordered, "I'm the one you want, not them!"

Yuan chuckled softly, "Well, then, Katara. Why don't you come and get me?" he challenged.

The waterbender instantly pulled a stream of water from the air and launched it at Yuan. The creature had expected he would be able to block the water, but instead it froze his whole arm. He glanced at it with an angry look and he turned back to her and she was already launching another stream of water at him. He attempted to block that as well, but ended up with another frozen arm.

She launched herself into the air, stealing two large streams of water from the air. As soon as Yuan turned back to her, curled her fingers and crossed her arms, sending both of the waves of water colliding and smashing into Yuan. The creature was thrown back into the street, frozen to the ground. Yuan growled loudly and angrily and his body began to glow once more. His body began to heat up and the ice began to melt slowly. As the soft bubbling of boiling water and the hard pattering of rain slamming against the ground filled the air, Katara was only feet away from Yuan with a shocked look on her face.

The ice shattered and a raging wall of flame shot into the sky. The flame was so hot that even from where she was, Katara could feel its skin-tingling heat. Yuan used this to his advantage. He formed jets a flame out his feet and used them to jettison himself towards her. His eyes were eager to end this- eager to finally end this waterbender that had helped destroy his life.

Katara had her hands held up in front of her face, trying to block out the fire's bright and intensely hot glow. When she heard the sound of fire approaching her, she removed her hands of defense to find Yuan only inches away from her. She felt something strong smack across her face and she fell backwards onto her side. She let out a soft, audible grunt. Her face was stinging where she had been hit, and she was sure her skin had been scratched. She tried to push herself up, but ended up with a kick in the gut. She let out a soft shriek of pain.

"How does it feel?" Yuan asked as he kicked her ribs. "How does it feel to be rendered so helpless? You are just waiting for death to come so this torture will end!" he shouted, kicking her again, causing her to roll over onto her back.

"I'm going to make sure you go through the same pain I did, and the same pain your beloved airbender went through!" He sent another kick to the ribs and another soft shriek escaped her. She had her arms on her side, trying to block his kicks. It hadn't helped. She was helpless before him. Her friends were unconscious, Jet was struggling to even move his arms, and Longshot and Smellerbee were nowhere to be found. In the rarest of times, she was now hopeless.

Yuan sent a final kick, resulting in her rolling onto her side, weak and helpless. She tried, with all her strength, to bend even of drop of water. When her hand extended out, moving softly and bringing together a few drops of water, the creature stomped on her hand and she yelped in pain. A streak of lightning ripped through the sky as she weakly and pleadingly looked up at Yuan.

He smiled maliciously at her, "Had enough?" he asked. She tried to respond but ended up just nodding, tears of pain ran down her cheeks. Yuan reached down and grasped her collar, pulling her to her feet. She looked away, but he slapped her across the face, hard, causing her to look back at him and his grabbed her chin, "Too fucking bad," he said softly, his voice so sinister and evil. His hand moved from her collar and grasped her throat. She instantly brought her hands to gasp his hands and pry them off, but it was no use. She was weak and trying to pry his hands off her neck was like trying to pick up a boulder.

Yuan gripped her neck tighter, "Go ahead and struggle!" he shouted in her face, "The more you struggle, the faster you will die!" he warned, slowly suspending her into the air.

Katara's prying eased down and she focused her strength on her breathing. Already her air pipes were blocking and her breathing became hoarse and she'd gag every few seconds. She tried to let out any cry for help. No matter how quiet it was, someone had to hear her. Yuan's fingers dug deeper into her skin and her eyesight began to fail. She knew she was dying now. Her body was trying to stay strong, but her fate was inevitable. She was going to die…

As her lungs began to give way, she could see her life flashing before her: a little Water Tribe girl moving a small pile of snow without even touching it, her mother revealing to her she was the only waterbender in the South Pole, her village being attacked and finding her dead mother in their home, pain filled years without her, an iceberg bursting open with a strong force of air, meeting Aang and Appa, leaving the South Pole, her whole journey with Aang to master the elements, their kiss on the balcony, three years of romance and love, their journey to find Nianzu, their fight with Nianzu, Aang's death, his funeral, her pain filled days without him, meeting Yuan, being attacked by Yuan, Aang's birthday, and now… this.

Yuan smiled maliciously as he could feel her final breaths traveling up her throat. "Don't worry. You will see him soon…" he told her, knowing that in her final moments she would be thinking of Aang. "In fact, when you get to the Spirit World, do me a favor and tell him I said 'hello.'"

"Why don't you tell me yourself, you son of a bitch!" A voice suddenly shouted.

Yuan looked away from the woman he was strangling and just as he did so, something sped past him and punched him hard in the face. His grip on Katara's neck was released and she collapsed to the ground, coughing ferociously as air tried to travel back up her throat. Her breathing was hoarse and she had no idea what was going on. Why had Yuan released her? Did he think she was dead? Was she dead? These questioned poured into Katara's mind but she couldn't answer any of them.

Yuan turned in the direction the object that had punched him had gone, "Who did that?" he demanded loudly.

He heard a light zipping noise and his body jerked to the right. He had been punched again. He growled loudly, "Who are you!" he shouted in demand. He had barely seen the person. It was too blurry as it passed him again, landing another strong punch. Yuan stumbled to the left. His hand was placed on the side of his face, feeling the stinging pain that it had been presented with. As the person sped past him again, Yuan could only make out an enraged face. Another punch, then another, then another, and another right after it! Whoever was doing this was speeding past him over and over again, landing strong blows to his face.

Katara's senses had finally begun working properly again. She could see and hear again, but she was still too weak to stand up or even pick herself up. She still lay on her side and she watched as Yuan was being beat up by something with extraordinary speed. She, too, was unable to make out the man. But something about it seemed familiar. She knew she had seen something like this before. But the question was, what was it?

As the man sped past Yuan several times, it landed a strong blow on Yuan's face and the creature was losing strength. He stumbled left and right in the direction of the object. After another strong blow, the man stopped. Yuan stumbled aimlessly for several moments before regaining his balance. He turned in the direction the man had just gone, "What in Avatar's name are you!" she shouted, pleadingly.

The man sped past him, but hadn't landed a punch. Yuan was surprised by this. Why hadn't the man punched him again? Yuan wondered this for several moments before he happened to glance at the ground. Carved into the dirt was the man's answer. "Exactly…" read the answer.

Yuan furrowed his brows questionably before the zipping sound of the man's speed struck Yuan's ears with fear. But this time, instead of punching Yuan, it began running around him and Katara. Before Yuan was even able to tell what was going on, some sort of tornado was being formed around him. Blasts of air struck Yuan several times. He was angry, but afraid at the same time. With no answers coming to him, he turned to the weak waterbender behind him.

He looked down at her, "What is going on! How is he doing this!" he demanded. But Katara saw something strange in Yuan's eyes. Unlike previous times, his eyes weren't full of evil and malice. No, this time…they were filled with fear. The waterbender didn't know what was going on either, but the look in Yuan's eyes made the pain in her body begin to disappear. A smile ran across her face, a smile of joy and happiness.

Yuan noticed this and grabbed her arm sternly, "What are you smiling about?" he demanded. A blast of air struck Yuan and the creature was put on his back, away from Katara. Just as this happened, Katara seemed to vanish from the vortex. Yuan's eyes filled with shock as he wondered what had happened to her. Where did she go? His answer became obvious just as he asked the question. The man that was creating the vortex must have pulled her out.

Katara found herself in her brother's arms, "Come on! We got to get away from that thing!" he shouted, trying his best to pull her away from the vortex and towards the gang. The waterbender noticed that everyone was here and they weren't unconscious. She figured they must have woken up and known she was in the vortex. But that still didn't answer one thing: what pulled her out of the vortex? More importantly, what was controlling the vortex?

Yuan became annoyed with this spiraling death trap. He decided to ignore his fear and fight back. He created a spiraling ball of cosmic energy in his palm and launched it at the vortex. That was a mistake. Instead of destroying the vortex, like Yuan predicted, it just swirled around with the vortex before launching back at Yuan. He fell to his back with an audible grunt.

Yuan regretted his actions. He knew the energy was strong, but feeling the energy himself made him realize how powerful the Manarki were. He shrugged off the pain and stood back on his feet, staring into the vortex with a challenging face. "Come on! You want me so badly! Why don't you come and get me and stop being such a wussy! Come on! Strike back!" he challenged the creator of the vortex.

The swirling of the vortex seemed to slow down and Yuan smiled, believing he had gotten to the man who was creating the vortex. Every moment that had passed, the vortex shrunk more. Before it had been huge and devastating, but now it was much smaller and barely intimidating. Yuan heard someone's feet plant on the ground and he turned around. There was a man, wearing a dark green robe and yellow pants. He had jet black hair and a completely noticeable tattoo on his forehead. Just as Yuan began to study the man, the vortex had spun around the man and was being launched at Yuan.

Yuan was thrown back far. He flew for what felt like a minute before his back slammed against a street pole. He grunted loudly as his body fell to the ground. Just as he opened his eyes, the sound of earth shattering struck his ears.

He looked up to see a boy, around sixteen, couching in front of him with his hand planted into the ground and a staff in the other hand. He stared at Yuan with angered eyes. As Yuan stared into his eyes, his own filled with shock. It was impossible! The man before him couldn't possibly be here!

The man arched his head forward, "Leave my family alone!"

I got to admit, guys. This chapter was pretty difficult to write. I'm not even sure I was all that successful with it. You know, I didn't think a fight between the Gaang and Yuan would be hard at first. But apparently it is as hard writing as it is animating or drawing or anything like that. Well, I did my best and I hope you guys enjoyed it. I really like this plot much better than my original plot. Trust me; it was nowhere as good as this one. Anyways, as you can see the voting for the keeping or elimination of Jet ended up in keeping him. I got to tell you, Jet is a character I like when it comes to fighting. When it comes to Katara…well…let's just say I'm not that fond of him. There are times when I like writing him and times when it just gets awkward. But enough about that, I have more sequel and High School info for you guys.

As I've said before, there will only be one sequel and will take place in the year of Aang's final (canon) death. But, as you know, I like to stay in canon in almost every case. The next story won't be so in canon to Korra because I have no idea of the plot for Korra. That said, the sequel will not be out until at least three or five episodes of Korra have been aired so that I can see what the new Avatar World is like. That's all for now, but I'll have more info soon.

As you all know, I'm planning to write an Avatar High School fanfic. It is already under production but will not be uploaded until at least a week after DoD has been concluded. I am only in freshman year so senior year might be a little difficult but I am trying my best by talking to some senior friends of mine and getting their perspective. I will try to get all your favorite things into the story. You might even notice some things that are personal to me. Anyways, that's all for that fanfic.

Oh, and for those of you that don't know - - DoD has a Facebook page. You can chat about the story and things you enjoy and I might talk to you guys a little about it. Also, I am going to start posting new Korra info on there as well. I have already found 2 exclusive pics and a new on-air trailer! Ha-ha, well, I hope you all can check out the page. There's a link on my profile for ya. Okay, I better stop now.

Last part of the A/N: I am worried. Why? Because my last chapter only received 31 hits! It may be a glitch due to having an Author's note as a chapter, then deleting it and replacing it. I don't know. I am just really worried because I don't want to find out that DoD's popularity is declining, especially that drastically. If it is... I'll still finish it... but, it may not have a sequel. I just don't want to learn I'm wasting my time with a sequel that is hopeless. I'll just be going back to my first days as a writer... -shivers- Those were bad days...

Time to end this A/N. Please read and review and I'll see ya next week.